The relationship between humans and the animals they've come to love is a remarkable one.

Dr. Kelly Knapp, a veterinarian at Meadowlands Veterinary Center in Willoughby, sums it up this way:

"I honestly believe the human-animal bond is so special because our pets will never judge us, talk back to us, become angry with us -- they are truly the only source of unconditional love present in the world."

When The News-Herald asked readers to tell us their stories about special animals in their lives, the response was overwhelming.

Iguana love

Merlin the iguana came into the life of Cindy Linn of Middlefield after he'd been hit by a car and was left to die by the side of a Cleveland street. A good Samaritan took the time to locate an exotic animal veterinary practice, which did emergency surgery on the animal and called Linn to see if she'd adopt him.

"I was known to them since I'd had an iguana before," she said.

Linn can't have children, so she has four birds and the now 12-pound, 41/2-foot-long Merlin.

In the three years she's become a pet mom to Merlin she's given him a warm and humidified room of his own, fed him greens and fruit and watched him grow.

"He'd be bigger, but his tail was partly cut off when he was hit by the car," she said.

"He potties over the bathtub drain," she said. "And sometimes he likes to sleep with me."

So he has it available for drinking or bathing, Linn keeps a cat litter box filled with water in Merlin's room. She also has installed a cat-climbing tree for the iguana's climbing pleasure.

"He loves to climb the cat tree and jump down into pillows on the floor," she said. "He does it over and over until he wears himself out and has to take a nap."

Although Merlin is usually sweet and cuddly, Linn said, his personality changes in summer when he's in season and his hormones ramp up.

She knows when it's happening because Merlin changes from his usual brown to a bright orange.

"He's stimulated by the colors of purple and pink," Linn said. "In fact he bit me, and I had to have stitches once."

She'd taken him out on a leash, and he became excited when he saw the pink flowers her neighbor had planted, she said.

"Like most males, he doesn't think straight when his hormones kick in," she said.

Merlin prefers women, she said, but sits in his apartment window and watches men as they pass by.

Kelly Knapp also was one of many to share a story about rescuing an animal, only to have that animal rescue its humans in a very real way.

She had finished veterinary school and was in the early days of her practice at Meadowlands when she met Skylar, a West Highland white terrier puppy that had been hit by a car.

The dog's owner could not afford the needed surgery and signed ownership of Skylar to the veterinary practice, where Knapp was alone and stymied over what to do.

She'd just moved back home with her mom and dad, busy medical professionals in Chester Township, and the entire family was upset over Knapp's grandfather, who was very ill, experiencing dementia and very likely dying.

"My family had been fish and cat owners, but we all led very busy lives so we never had a dog," Knapp said.

She'd never done the pelvic fracture repair surgery needed by the puppy, but she didn't want to leave the dog unattended. So Knapp brought Skylar home to her "no dogs allowed" household while she studied how to do it.

She implanted a permanent screw in Skylar to hold her pelvis to her sacrum, and, as the little dog recovered and underwent physical therapy, she went to work with Knapp every day. She'd become a solid part of the Knapp household, and everyone rejoiced at her post-surgical progress.

"It was a great success," she said. "She never let out one whimper through the entire process.

"Skylar's recovery became a sign of hope for my entire family at a time we needed it most."

She even took the little dog to visit her grandfather when he was under hospice care.

"When my grandfather passed away in August 2012, she was there for us," she said. "Not only did we nurse this dog back to health but she nursed our family back to health."

Rescued

Vicky and Dave Ryan of Concord Township are convinced you don't always get the dog you want, but you do get the dog you need. The puppy they rescued three years ago came from a puppy mill and was very frightened and terrified of men. In addition to the love, laughter and companionship Lexi has brought to their home, Vicky believes their rescued dog saved her husband's life.

One day Dave fell on slippery steps and broke his wrist when taking the dog out for a walk.

"During pre-admission testing, doctors found a bad heart valve and told him he needed immediate surgery," Vicky wrote. "Without the fall his valve defect would have gone undetected."

Now a magnet on Vicky's car dashboard declares: "Who Rescued Who?"

Parrot pal

Mary Lamos, 89, and Pepe, her black-hooded parakeet, have been inseparable for 26 years. More parrot than typical parakeet, Pepe does tricks for Lamos and entertains the staff and residents at The Lantern, the assisted living facility where they live in Madison Township.

"I got him at a Kmart in Florida when we lived near Weekee Wachee, an attraction with a parrot show," she recalled. "I taught him how to do somersaults and shake hands and to ride on a wagon and some wind-up toys I have,"

She doesn't know if Pepe is male or female.

"But he's never laid an egg so I call him my boy," she said.

Although Pepe doesn't talk, he perches on Mary's shoulder and the two communicate, chirping back and forth.

"He gets so close his eye is about an inch from my glasses," she said.

She said he's getting more lovable as he ages.

Mary and her husband, Ralph, a Painesville firefighter for 23 years, moved to Florida in the late 1970s. Her husband died in 1995, and she returned to the area in 2004 to be here when her eight great-grandchildren were born.

The children still are little and don't pay much attention to their great-grandmother's large green and black bird.

"Pepe doesn't take to everyone," she said. "But there's a nurse here he really likes, and he'll sit on her shoulder like he does on mine. She likes to play with him."

Roos grew up in a family that never wanted a dog in the house. He moved away from home shortly after adopting Pippen, a 3-month-old Boston terrier mix.

"But my mom and dad fell in love with Pippen and wanted to take him on walks," he said.

He described Pippen as "an amazing, high-energy dog who loved to do tricks."

A few months ago, Roos took Pippen to the vet when he noticed his 2-year-old dog limping.

"It turned out he had serious cancer in his bone," Roos said.

The vet told him that they could remove the dog's shoulder and front leg to buy him time, but Roos decided instead to allow Pippen to live out what was left of his life.

A few Fridays ago, the pain medications for Pippen were no longer working, and Roos made the decision he dreaded.

"It was awful to put him down, but there really was no other choice," he said.

Despite the heartbreak, last week he adopted another Boston terrier mix, a puppy rescued by Paws of Prayers in Akron.

Granddoggie

Reader Gail writes that her granddoggie Abbey keeps them connected with their son, who took his life seven months ago.

Abbey came to live with them four years ago when their son brought her along when he moved back in with them, returning to Ohio from Florida.

After their son's death, they assumed Abbey's care.

"She helped us deal with our loss and moving on. She is fun, energetic, silly and loving. She puts smiles on our faces and keeps us moving," Gail wrote.

"She is such a joy. She knows when we are sad, and she jumps up on our laps and licks our faces as if to say it's all OK.

"We don't know what we would do without her."

Cleft palate pup

A puppy that Carol Ivory of Painesville was advised to put down has become the "sweetest kindest dog" she's ever owned. The seven newborn yellow Labs seemed fine until day two when the Ivorys found one of them pushed off to the side, cold and barely breathing.

"He couldn't seem to suckle so we began bottle feeding him," she recalled.

Three days later, when they took the pups to the vet to have their dew claws removed, they learned the puppy had been born with a cleft palate.

"These puppies usually died from food getting into their lungs and causing infections," she was told.

Their vet advised her to put him down.

The Ivorys found a website of a breeder who had successfully raised puppies with cleft palates and gave step-by-step instructions on what to do. Their vet agreed to put the pup on antibiotics and help them do what was needed, she said.

"My husband was laid off at the time, so he was able to feed him every three hours and give him antibiotics," she wrote. "He was always talking to him, so he named the pup Jimmy."

They took the pup to the vet every other day to make sure his lungs remained clear.

"Feedings were always fun. Puppy milk ended up all over Jimmy and us. But the other dogs lent a hand by licking the milk off."

Jimmy grew very slowly, she wrote. The others dogs were double his size in no time and all of them picked on Jimmy.

"It took him twice as long to grow to normal size, but he did," she wrote. "He is still doing well and is the sweetest kindest dog I have ever owned. He looks like a little polar bear, and I thank God every day to have him in our lives."